Corset-steel protector



(No Model.)

B. (BUSHING.

00mm STEEL PROTECTOR.

Patented l eb. 28, 18 88" i Mgripher, Washington, D4 c UNITED STATES FATENT Cement ELLEN CUSHING, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

'CCRSET STEEL PROTECTCR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 378,576, dated February 28, 1888.

Application filed June 29, 1887. Serial No. 242,918. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ELLEN CUSHING, of the city and county ofSan Francisco, State of California, have invented an Improvement in Corset-Steel Protectors; and I hereby declare the following to be afull, clear, and exact descrip tion of the same.

Myinvention relates to thatclass of protectors for corset-steels in which an auxiliary piece of steel is employed to stiffen a previouslybroken steel or strengthen a perfect one.

My invention consists in the construction and combination of devices, which I shall hereinafter fully describe and claim.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective View showing the protector partially bent and folded. Fig. 2 is an elevation showing its application to a corset. Fig. 3 is a cross-section of the protector and the incl osed corset-steel.

The protector, as shown in Fig. 1 by the letter A, consists of a metal piece or strip bent on its longitudinal center, so as to form two parallel folds or laps, between which the corsetsteel B, Fig. 3, fits, lying close up to the bend. The metal protector has its folds wide enough to lap over onto the cloth of the corset, as shown at (1, whereby it may be secured by some suitable fastening such as stitching through holes prepared for the thread, or, as

here shown, by tongues a, struck up from the metal and passing through the cloth, being clinched on the other side,after the manner of paper-fasteners. The protector has its outer told or lap preferably made shorter than its inner one, as shown in Fig. l, the object being to give the inclosed steel a stiffness greater than if the two folds were of equal length, terminating in the same cross-plane.

for the proper passage and exposure of the hooks and eyes Z of the steels; but when the protectors are used for side steels these slots are unnecessary.

When the protector is applied to corsets already made, it is fitted right over the cloth; but if applied in the manufacture it may be fitted directly to the steel and be covered by the cloth, and it may then be riveted to the steel or secured in an yother suitable manner.

The protector may be used to stiffen abroken steel or to strengthen a perfect one.

I am aware of corset-steel protector-s which consist of auxiliary steels laid against the main steel on one or both sides thereof, and I also know of a corsetsteel which is bent longitudinally on itself; but these are not my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination, with a corset, ofa corset-steel protector made of a single independent piece or strip of metal bent longitudinally and fitted over or embracing the steel of the unequal lengths and projecting beyond the steel, whereby it may be fastened to the cor- 

